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WNIJ's summary of news items around our state.

Illinois Hospitals Might Suffer In Potential Government Shutdown

Flickr user Mark Hillary / "My bed" (CC BY 2.0)

The Illinois Hospital Association wants the state to pass a temporary budget if a deal on a full year's spending plan cannot be reached soon. If lawmakers and the governor don't agree on a budget by the June 30 deadline, state agencies might have to shut down.

A.J. Wilhelmi, a representative of the organization, says hospitals receive payments for Medicaid and other services.

"Many hospitals depend on state revenue to fulfill their mission and provide quality healthcare to their patients and communities, so a lengthy shutdown could really jeopardize access to care for children, for seniors, for the disabled, for families across the state," Wilhelmi said.

Wilhelmi says without these payments, hospitals might have no choice but to stop paying their own bills and making employee payroll.

"Hospitals throughout the state are greatly concerned with a shutdown of state government and would strongly encourage consideration of a one-month budget to ensure that the state can make these important payments, not only to hospitals, but others that rely on state funding," Wilhelmi said.

The governor's office says a temporary budget would be "unacceptable."